Comments By William D.

I worked for OD doing dock part time Back in the day never again lol hardest warehousing I ever did 😧

I wouldn't be at OD right now if I had come out of school with a automatic restriction.

You can definitely remove it later on but companies may pass in you for someone they don't have to teach. Plus you have to retake at least the driving and maneuvering portion of the CDL test.

I wouldn't be at OD right now if I had come out of school with a automatic restriction.

You can definitely remove it later on but companies may pass in you for someone they don't have to teach. Plus you have to retake at least the driving and maneuvering portion of the CDL test.

I only got 6 more road rides to get comfortable before my test on 8/5 my yard truck at my job was a automatic so thats what i was used to i talked to my trainer and he told me everyone in my 6 week class but me switched and asked if i was gonna cop out meaning take the easy way out i said listen here pal i got to go back to work and aint got time to mess around if i fail my road tests waiting weeks to get another i dont want an issue shifting or anything with the clutch to be the deciding factor in my failing i ACE my other tests im even teaching my fellow 6 weekers pre trip and maneuvers i also have knee issues from playing football in hs/college so its very uncomfortable lol

I decided on automatic for all my road rides but learned most backing maneuvers in a manual. There is no entry level job that pays enough for me to think about shifting while moving a vehicle this big, especially during the road test where free wheeling and throttle consistency is important. Plus most carriers are switching to automatics due to costs so it's not like a job will be hard to find. You can always have the auto restriction removed later down the line.

If you do switch to automatic make sure you do it soon. Idk what trucks they're running in Buffalo but NTTS Syracuse autos are Freightliner and manual are Volvos. They take time getting used to for maneuvers. It took me a good 2 weeks to get offset after going from a manual Volvo to an auto Freightliner. My see side and parallel was still hit or miss during the road test. I could do it perfect in the Volvo.

Is that the West Seneca testing route or orchard park one i go to the orchard park one on 8/5 im at NTTS now lol

Fired off that last reply quickly since they just finished loading me.

Here's the street view looking at the problematic turn.

What is it with your test that's causing you to fail? Are you hitting the curb? Getting too many points?

With the turn you shared I don't believe you would need to use oncoming traffics lanes at all. If you take that turn as wide as possible you'll be safe. Keep an eye on your tandems as they round the curve and go wider if you need to. You'll get points if you swing too wide to the point some car tries to squeeze by on the right though so watch your tandems. Other than this turn how is the rest of your test route you have trouble with?

Out of curiosity did your school take you on the route before testing? My school the final week the 4 of us alternated driving the route so we had it down.

The proctor said he has seen people move over all 3 lanes to avoid hitting the curb. I did hug the left line and still hit the curb 3 times.

I really wish my school took us through this route but for some reason it is 1.5 hours away from the school.

The rest of the course is ok. The first right turn is tough because it’s a two lane road and there isn’t a lot of extra pavement to make sure the tandems clear the curb. But I got it ok.

Did much better today doing city driving

I hear ya. Those next seven road rides will hone your skills enough to pass the test, I'm confident.

Remember that the examiners are accustomed to new drivers having hiccups grinding or missing gears. Not a huge deal. They won't necessarily fail you for that. They will however judge you on how well you recover from your hiccups. If you panic and impede traffic or create an unsafe situation, you're done. Don't let it stress you out, focus on the task at hand.

I’m still in the process of deciding i have 7 road rides left before my dmv exam on 8/5 we only get an hour each ride so trying to work the kinks out during city driving is the pits I can shift just I have issues with proper down shifting forgetting to rev and missing the gear cause of it I just don’t want that to be an issue on passing my road test when I ace all the rest

I have a different opinion on the manual vs automatic. Personally, I wouldn't want the restriction. As much as people like to say that every company is going to automatic, the truth is there are still tons of companies out there running manuals.

You didn't mention that you were having a hard time learning how to shift, so it's a simple matter of getting through the short-term process of passing the test, then you can move on with your career unfettered with the restriction.

I hear it’s decent and more then company operators I’ve been looking into that SFI lease program and have a couple of friends that have went threw them. Sure you pay fuel and other expenses but seeing some of there settlement stubs truck revenue of $11k then minus expenses and taxes and such bringing home $6k a week would be too knotch lol I’m sure that’s not often but I wouldn’t complain my goal is to have my own truck in the future but need to get my feet wet first

Ok

But now I wanna go out Otr and eventually lease my own truck cause that lease operator money is 🫢

I’ll second Anne, as a Buffalo local driver, I’ve been interested in your journey, and wonder what your future driving plans may be.

Was that a joke? I'm curious as to how much money you think a lease op makes.... Cause I have actual statements and proof. I want to see how far out of the park you are.

Well so far I got calls from Schneider,Prime,TMC,DoTFoods,Roehl. I worked at waste management as a heavy equipment operator they did not pay for my schooling but wanted me to obtain a cdl to transfer to a different location with a very generous pay increase. But now I wanna go out Otr and eventually lease my own truck cause that lease operator money is 🫢

I’ll second Anne, as a Buffalo local driver, I’ve been interested in your journey, and wonder what your future driving plans may be.

Thank you I spent the money and went to a private school called NTTS here in Buffalo my instructor told me to try more road rides with a manual granted I only went 3 times my downfall is downshifting everything else is great he says keep at til ride 6/7 then decide if I wanna switch honestly I rather just focus on the road and not worry about shifting specially during my road portion of the cdl road test I ace pre trip and backing maneuvers but down shifting gets me flustered 😫

Hello I have 2weeks left on my school training and going for road test on 8/5 I honestly don’t enjoy driving manual on my road rides I spend more time worrying about shifting then paying attention to hazards and the road i basically need to pass my road test first time I’ve been going without a paycheck during training and need to go back to work should I just switch to automatic and worry about removing the restriction after getting more experience everyone I talk to says all truck except heavy haulers are automatic shifting stresses me out and I worry I will fail cause of that ?

William, I’m a big fan of auto-mated transmissions. Personally, I would not go back to driving a manual. Unless you see some specific need for driving a manual in your future, by all means take your road test in an auto-mated unit. Your reasoning is valid about it being safer driving the auto-mated, at least that’s my personal opinion.

I'm a 1000% with BK here, man. Just talked to a close buddy on TT (and Fb) yesterday, who is changing his haulings and has the restriction, as well. No concerns AT ALL per the new company. If they 'need' him to eliminate the restriction, they will provide him with the means to do so.

On the other hand; I'd learned on a manual via my other half, and it's kinda all I know. I don't drive (yet) anymore, its a non issue for me, either. Getting my full CDLA WITH no restriction is gonna be a hurdle, unless I can bribe PJ, haha!

Personally (AND professionally,) you'll hear from the vets and mods on here, that having that restriction (like you said, unless you get into H/H aka: heavy haul or 'specialty' hauling; it's mostly a non issue.) LTL, on the other hand (OTOH...) does not care for the restriction, at least in my Ohio knowledge.

If you feel that strongly it's a downfall for you, understandably, DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT & go auto!!

~ Anne ~

ps: Here's a TON of threads, articles, AND blogs . . . re: this subject : Auto, AMT, and/or Manual Transmissions.

pps: Congrats on finally getting things 'MOVIN & GROOVIN' with getting your CDL!!

Apply For Paid CDL Training

Apply For Truck Driving Jobs

Awesome thanks for the info guys

Hello I have 2weeks left on my school training and going for road test on 8/5 I honestly don’t enjoy driving manual on my road rides I spend more time worrying about shifting then paying attention to hazards and the road i basically need to pass my road test first time I’ve been going without a paycheck during training and need to go back to work should I just switch to automatic and worry about removing the restriction after getting more experience everyone I talk to says all truck except heavy haulers are automatic shifting stresses me out and I worry I will fail cause of that ?